A Deal with Another Studio?
Can I catch him before he gets away?
I ran down the hallway, turning it over in my mind. With my physical abilities enhanced the way they were now, it might actually be possible. That thought lasted only a moment before I saw that Ha Min-gi had shoved every chair off the desk.
All that was left was to get over it, so I swung the axe in my left hand hard and let go. The weapon shot forward at tremendous speed.
Kwaak—
“—Gyaaaaah!!!”
The axe buried itself dead-center in his back the instant he scrambled onto the desk. A raw, piercing scream tore through the hallway.
Thud!
Ha Min-gi’s body convulsed, then he toppled backward. Landing flat on his back might have finished him, but he twisted somehow and hit shoulder-first instead.
“Ghhhk…”
I walked toward him slowly. He was curled up, sobbing, both shoulders twitching every time the pain spiked.
“What’s going on?”
The door right beside me opened just as I reached him. Kim Min-ho stepped out, locked eyes with me, then looked down at Ha Min-gi.
“…Did you do that?”
“Yes. He was acting suspicious.”
“Ugh… p-please… spare me… hhhk…”
“Are you going to help him?”
Kim Min-ho gave a dry little laugh and shook his head.
“Do as you like. As long as it doesn’t come back on me, I couldn’t care less.”
“Understood.”
“Please, please…!”
I grabbed a fistful of Ha Min-gi’s hair and started dragging him. His arms and legs kept thrashing, trying to grab anything nearby, so I brought the felling axe down on his right arm.
Kwaak—
“Ghhhk—!”
Any more screaming might bring zombies up the stairs, so I clamped a hand over his mouth.
“Ghhhk… mmph…”
Ha Min-gi’s face was a mess of tears and snot, drained of color like all the blood had fled. I watched his jaw chatter for a second, then took hold of his hair again.
“W-what on earth is going on?”
When we reached unit 303, the two women stared at me and Ha Min-gi with wide eyes, looking back and forth between us.
“He looked suspicious, so I grabbed him for now.”
“Okay, but did you have to do it like this?”
“Then what was I supposed to do? You think he’d just stop if I politely asked him to? He’d have bolted while I was talking.”
An Ga-hee couldn’t find a reply; she only let out a long sigh. Then she pointed at Ha Min-gi with one finger.
“You’re not seriously bringing that into my place, are you? I hate the smell of blood.”
“It’s a dump anyway. What’s the difference? The place already stinks.”
“Excuse me?”
She glared at me, face flushed. Impressive, really. Most people would have folded under this kind of pressure, yet here she was still talking back.
She might be a lot more useful than I first thought.
Looking back now, calling what Ga-hee had done “crossing the line” felt a little unfair. Selfish, sure—but from her position it had been a reasonable move. Crude, maybe, but that was about the size of it.
I’ll think about it more later.
Whether to take Ga-hee in or not could wait. Right now the priority was Ha Min-gi.
“Ugh… please… spare me…”
“Fine. We’ll talk this out at Ha Min-gi’s place. Conveniently, the door’s already open.”
“Alright.”
I tightened my grip on his hair and started walking again. Ga-hee and So-hye slipped on their shoes and followed.
Ha Min-gi’s room was filthy.
Trash everywhere you looked. Some unidentifiable liquid had dried and stuck to the floor. Only the bed was relatively clear, and even the blanket had turned a sickly yellow.
The worst part was the stench—cigarette smoke, rotting food, and something putrid all mixed into a reek so foul it defied description.
Worse than zombie rot.
“Ugh, I really don’t want to go in there.”
Ga-hee wrinkled her nose.
“Then stay home.”
“And miss whatever he’s about to say? No way. This bastard might start spouting bullshit.”
“Then we’re going in.”
“Yeah.”
I yanked the weapons free from his back and arm, tore a strip from his clothes to wipe the blood, then heaved him with both hands onto the pile of garbage. Dust exploded into the air.
“Ugh…”
I pulled my mask on by reflex and crouched in front of him. Even sitting in this filth felt disgusting.
“Ha Min-gi.”
I called his name, but he only groaned and didn’t respond. I grabbed him by the collar and hauled his face out of the trash.
Slap!
The first open-handed blow cleared some of the fog from his eyes. A few more and his mouth finally opened.
“S-stop… stop!”
The second our eyes met he flinched hard. Color drained from his face; his jaw and lips started shaking.
“Ugh…”
“I’ll keep this simple. Why did you suddenly bolt out of your room and run down the hallway? Where were you trying to go?”
“Th-that’s…”
Still hesitating even after all this fear.
“Looks like you’re not scared enough yet.”
“N-no! That’s not—”
—Kwachik!
I pulled the felling axe free and drove it into his thigh. The blade sank halfway in; blood welled up and soaked the bed and floor.
“Gyaaaaah!”
He thrashed, whipping his head side to side. The floating dust got sucked straight into his nose and mouth.
“Hesitate again and I cut the leg clean off. Clear?”
“Y-yes—ghhhk—yes, I understand!”
Tears streaming, he nodded so hard his head looked ready to come off.
“Why did you run out into the hallway?”
“I-I was trying to get to the fourth floor!”
“Fourth floor—that’s where Kang Tae-ik and Jo Hee-ran live. You were going to them, correct?”
“Y-yes!”
“Why?”
He swallowed hard, then forced the words out.
“Th-they told me to let them know the second you came back! Th-that’s why I was going!”
“They told you to report when I returned?”
Suspicious as hell no matter how you looked at it. Why would they care whether I came back from outside or not?
“The people who cleaned out the second-floor units—that was the landlord couple, wasn’t it?”
“Y-yes! That’s right! I helped them do it!”
“Is that so?”
“Yes, yes!”
I turned and met Ga-hee’s eyes. She had her arms crossed and gave a single nod.
“He’s right. The landlord couple did it.”
“How, exactly?”
“Th-they had a master key!”
“A master key? Most places use digital door locks these days.”
“F-for the door locks they just punched in the master code and walked right in! They said it works for every unit in the building!”
I’d assumed they’d forced the doors with a crowbar. They’d used something this convenient instead?
Are these people insane?
They couldn’t have predicted a situation like this. So why the hell had they set all that up in the first place?
I can ask them later.
I pulled a cigarette from my pocket, lowered my mask, stuck it between my lips, and lit it.
“Sss, haah…”
I ruffled Ha Min-gi’s hair and blew smoke straight into his face. He flinched, then forced a smile.
“You pathetic piece of shit.”
“Y-yes?”
“Nothing. Is that everything you have to say? Anything else you want to tell me?”
“Uh, well…”
His eyes darted around wildly. Sweat poured off him as he scrambled for anything else he could remember. This time I waited with genuine patience.
“Th-there’s one more thing!”
“What?”
“I-I overheard something once. It sounded like they were making a deal with another studio building nearby!”
That was actually useful information.
“A deal?”
“Y-yes!”
“Which building?”
“I-I don’t know exactly. But when I talked to them myself, the other side said they wanted… w-women.”
Women, in a situation like this? Whoever was on the other end of that deal was definitely not normal.
“You fucking bastard—!”
While I was still taking long drags on the cigarette, Ga-hee suddenly stepped forward and seized Ha Min-gi by the collar.
“You piece of shit! That’s why you kept coming around telling me to come out? Huh? You were going to sell me?!”
“Y-yeah!”
“Jo Hee-ran, that fucking bitch, told you to do it, didn’t she?!”
“Th-that too!”
Ga-hee punched him square in the face, then let go of his collar.
“Aaaagh! That fucking bitch!”
“Care to explain what this is about?”
I frowned. Ga-hee flinched, took a breath, and spoke more carefully.
“Exactly what he just said. This asshole kept showing up. He wanted me to come outside and talk, so I told him to fuck off. After that I just stayed locked in my room the whole time.”
“And then I showed up.”
“Right.”
“The bruise on your face—from then?”
“That was from when I refused to pay rent and Kang Tae-ik beat me. Piece of shit…”
I had a clear enough picture now.
Looks like Ha Min-gi became Kang Tae-ik’s lackey.
Probably in exchange for food. That box of instant noodles half-buried in the trash pile still had the little mark I’d drawn on it.
“That’s everything you have to say?”
“Y-yes! That’s all of it!”
“Hmm.”
I took one last long drag and ground the cigarette out on his face. Ha Min-gi broke out in a cold sweat and bit down hard on his lip.
“Ga-hee.”
“What.”
“What do you want done with Ha Min-gi?”
“Kill him.”
No hesitation at all.
“G-Ga-hee…!”
“Don’t say my name, you piece of shit. It gives me the creeps.”
“Ga-hee. Do you remember what I said a little while ago?”
“…That I needed to earn your trust.”
“Yes.”
I stood and held the felling axe out to her. She stared at it blankly, then looked up at me.
“Is this what I think it is?”
“Yes. Kill him.”
“How is this related to trust?”
“It is, at least to me.”
She raked a hand through her hair, muttered “fuck,” and snatched the axe like she was taking it by force.
“…You keep your promise.”
“I will. We’re stepping out. So-hye.”
“Huh? Oh—okay…”
So-hye clung to my side as we left. I sent her out into the hallway, then leaned against the doorframe and watched the two of them.
“G-Ga-hee. You’re not really… right? You’re not going to, are you?”
“Not going to what? You forget what you did to me? You tried to rape me. You stole my food too.”
“Th-that’s not—I didn’t—!”
“Still, thanks. Because of that memory I kept the chain on and stayed locked inside. All of this is thanks to you. Appreciate it?”
Ga-hee gripped the felling axe with both hands and raised it toward the ceiling. Her shoulders hunched; her whole body started to shake.
“I was wrong! Ga-hee, I was wrong, I really was! Just once! Just look the other way this once! Please!”
“Fuck. Tch! Shut up!”
She took a deep breath, then finally brought her upper body down.
“No—nooooo—”
—Kwachik!
Wherever the blade landed, the sound was clean and sharp. More wet impacts followed in rapid succession. The smell of blood flooded the room. From the man’s body, half-visible through the doorway, red liquid pulsed out in thick surges.
Warmth flooded into me. I felt the corner of my mouth lift.
So the ability strengthens even when someone else does the killing.
“Hah… hah… hah… Is that… enough?”
Ga-hee turned around. Her face was spattered with blood.
“That’s enough.”
She held the felling axe out; I took it. No sign she intended to turn it on me.
“I have one request.”
“What is it?”
“Kang Tae-ik. Jo Hee-ran. Can I kill those bastards too? Especially that old hag Jo Hee-ran.”
Ga-hee’s eyes burned.
“Of course.”
“Thanks.”
We looked at each other and smiled. Forced smiles, both of them.
“Shall we go?”
“Yeah. Let’s go.”